Monday, April 27, 2009

Oh attitudes are improving between the canines that walk among our household. Maya is allowing Lukas near for short durations and even licks him now and then. It's good to see Luke start to respect her space a little better and she, in turn, extend a form of friendship that only they can fully understand. Note the tiny human toes at the top! LOL.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Mantle Lake Park was filled with little children tonight--all wanted to pet and walk Lukas. Maya stood nearby but gravitates to the smaller children. She stands near them and allows them to pet her and hug her without moving. Purely conjecture, but she seemed protective of them. One little one who couldn't stand for long, buckled and Maya nuzzled her nose in her neck and licked. The tiny little girl squealed.

Lukas, on the other hand leaped and bulldozed and tried to lead the little ones around with his teeth in their clothing. Sigh. Some lessons to learn. We had a few minutes of just us and Lukas sat in the grass and panted. He hasn't yet noticed the ducks swimming back and forth but he is very interested in the smells along the bank; duck a la poo.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Maya and my son Joshua (with his friend) went to the park without the boy dogs. It was great to spend time with her without the competition for attention and dominance from big golden and little boy Berner. Mantle Lake is no longer frozen, though, there is snow on the lake banks I noticed and tiny patches in some of the grassy areas. Maya took great interest in the ducks, the frolicking squirrels, and another dog strolling by.

Presque Isle doesn't have a dog park, per say but the City has smartly provided bags to clean up after dogs at Mantle so many owners hold doggy playdates and take walks in this marvelous little bit of earth. Mantle Lake is surrounded by a short hiking trail. Would like to take Maya and Joshua exploring this weekend and reacquaint them with the trail. The wild lady slippers are likely to be up soon as well as the Jack-in-the-Pulpits, and Trilliums. Wanna see those.

Maya laid down by a little stream that flows into the lake and contentedly watched my little boy and his friend skip rocks. The boys were squealing with pleasure and jumping up and down--Maya had a pleased look on her face. She has no interest in chewing sticks or other debris, toys, or digging in the dirt like so many dogs we know but is most content to be with her people, listen to us, and watch us. She is an awesome companion; quiet and elegant even.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Day 4 with new pup and Maya is getting more and more tolerant of Lukas. He keeps inching closer--as close as he dares. He's not very timid and is winning her over. He scoots his paws closer and closer each day.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Luke was a handful today! Maya, Liam, and I all seemed tired after this little bulldozer crashed his way through the day. LOL. Thank goodness he found this stick to occupy him--he loves, loves, loves sticks and he is never happier than when he is outside.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Well, we went to the park together tonight. Luke was ignored for the most part but he's a little hard to ignore entirely even for a sulking big Berner. He frolicked like a spring lamb in the mud grass and discovered a patch of snow to stomp and dig in.

Maya tried her hardest to turn her back everytime he approached. I can't tell if she is afraid of him or in utter horror at this creature bounding about. Liam is much more tolerant and is trying to teach him in a different way. Luke strutted up to him intending to take the beloved frisbee--Liam gave him a powerful warning growl and Luke yelped in fear, stepped back, and looked wide-eyed. I tried not to laugh but he had been tugging at Liam's ears, nipped at the cat, peed on the floor, swatted Maya's nose, and went after my shoe in the span of 2 minutes! He was, shall we say, a bit demur after the correction.

He is now permitted to be a few feet near during naptime. He watches Maya closely and when she grooms, he makes an attempt as well. It's adorable how much he wants to be a big dog and mimics the other two but being accepted rather than just tolerated is going to take some time I think.

As much as I'd like, I can't get a picture of Lukas and Maya together. Maya is still ignoring him and keeping a significant distance. I've not ventured out with the two of them together for a walk but maybe today. Maya is not at all aggressive toward Luke (though extinction may be a form of aggression I suppose) but just gives him wide berth.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Looks like the peeing wonder is staying for good. Mom is calling him Lukas but I'm staying away. It was okay at first because I thought it was just a visit. I am sulking and to add insult to injury, mom gave me a bath this morning. She'd better take me for a walk and fast.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Berner baby was up much of the night. Erm...that crate thing gonna be a challenge for both of us. I like it less than he does. Got his collar fitted better, some excellent kibble, and a few chew toys.

Baby arrived home without incident after spending the day on the beach with his breeder. The babe Berner slept most of the way home after spending the night with family. He is a teeny bulldozer but pacific and eager to please.

Walked into the house with a pleased look on his face and eagerly pounced toward the big dogs. After some serious sniffing, he seems accepted into the pack! Yay. He is not eating as much as recommended and I'm handfeeding for now but he is drinking and I think just too excited to bother with eating. Maya decided that looked like a good idea and wanted handfeeding as well (well, why not?) LOL.

The children were besotted at first sight but showed remarkable self control by offering quiet voices and letting puppy come to them on his own terms. He had such a pleased look to discover children in his new home!

All three wolfies are sleeping with big sighs of contentment. The baby is gated off from the other two (I'm just a little nervous still) but Liam and Maya's noses are close to the gate and they are keeping a close eye on the little guy.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Maya had to wait for the bustle of dinner, the cleanup of dishes, and calling hours for a colleague's 22 year old son killed on a snowmobile before her walk tonight. It was an unspeakably sad hour standing in a line of at least a couple hundred persons waiting to pay their respect and express sorrow for Carol and Gerry, two of the nicest people in our community. Their faces bore the horrendous effects of grief and loss.

When I returned home, my sometimes banshee like brood of children had spilled sugar all over the floor. Normally, this would be upsetting and I'd mumble like Rodney Dangerfield about respect, but after seeing Brian, the 22 year old beloved child lying in a casket, sugar on the floor seemed best put in the catagory of a shoulder shrug. Maya bounded toward me and I admit, I really felt too sad to grab the leash, but she sat, cocked her head to one side and implored me with her mud-colored eyes. Ca'mon!

Off we went toward the snowy park. Much snow melted today leaving sloshy soft soil for Maya's paws. Her nose hardly lifted until, that is, she spotted a group of girls huddled together giggling. What's better than a group of girls in a huddle? Why a group of girls in a huddle with mud at their feet. She promptly started toward them, threw herself into their welcoming crowd and flipped on her back to gratefully accept their adoration and belly rubs.

Life is good. I didn't think that it was warm enough to melt anything today, but while I worked at computer and library stuff, the banks were minimized significantly and much bare ground was exposed so the trail around Mantle Lake was passable. There is so very much snow every year and snowplows create massive banks of snow that take a very long time to melt. They are caked with rocks and dirt, gravel and sod and salt for the roads. Maya loves snow and the dirtier the better. Today's walk was a sort of goodbye to the snow and hello to mud season.

Maya's eager nose poked every bank and mud pile that she could find and as I watched her obvious joy at the smelly earth, it seemed she was oblivious to everything around her. That is, until a bird shrieked and she froze listening or a leaf from autumn skirted across her vision and she'd pounce on it. It was an adorable sight that I'm normally unable too preoccupied focus on--so much to do, to plan, to apply for, to create strategies, to implement goals and all in the interest of improving library services. I laughed. I wondered what my day would be like if my greatest pleasure was a walk in the park. Maybe today it was.

We sauntered home to write our blog. Maya lifts her paw now and then to place on my foot--I really think she believes that she is helping.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Maya and I went for a long walk today. It's still cooler temps here and windy besides, but the sun hits her selkie-black coat and she heats up fast. She discovered (as did I) who is talking to her at night and, incidentally, who she barks at in that baritone, slow and purposeful bark in response--it's a beautiful chocolate lab a few houses down. I recognized his voice when he greeted her and so did she. She stood at at full attention and was so excited, she shook.

We took the Presque Isle Bike Path, a winding trail that goes through our town. Evidently, Maya forgot about bikes because a group of biker kids whizzed by and her countenance registered utter shock. Not the afraid kind of alarm, but as if to say, "WOW, tres cool mom!" LOL. I was grateful that she's quickly learned not to pull me at that moment. Winter (and people I suppose) was hard on the Path--shattered glass everywhere made apparent by the melting snow. I'm pretty sure Maya would not tolerate boots, but it was worrisome. Paws seem fine however and she scarcely seemed to notice.

Our house is situated on a dead end road and a stone's throw away from Mantle Lake Park. There is a small pond stocked with fish (ah-hem, that's lake to visitors), a ball field, tennis courts, picnic tables, and a thicket with a trail. It's still too snowy so it hasn't formally opened to the public. Hoping to visit there in the next couple of weeks.

Liam & Maya are somewhat baffled today as to why the Easter Bunny did not leave them any noms. A longer walk in the woods shouldget their minds off the chocolate in the house. For a good article on chocolate poisoning in dogs, see, http://www.gsrne.org/Chocolate.htm

Saturday, April 11, 2009

This is just all kinds of cute. Here is Maya at 12 weeks old and WAY before she hit the 100 lbs mark. Her greatest love is walks outside, but Maya is content to do whatever her people want to do. Her disposition is easy-going, congenial, and forgiving of schedule changes. Learned of a new doggie daycare from my friend Sue in Presque Isle--we are going to try that out. Our Golden, Liam, used to visit daycare in Scarborough, Maine. He absolutely loved it.